For the sixth year in a row, I have tallied the number of video games I played in the last year. For the sixth year in a row, it's an absurd amount.

But this year, my numbers have plunged. I played some 161 games but finished a mere 28 of them, down from 52 in 2010.

Did I start hating games or something? No. I just played slightly fewer games and many more games that just can't be finished.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind

My year-end totals count the games I've played for fun or, simply, at home. As a games journalist, I am sent dozens of video games, some of which I play, some of which I don't. I have the luxury, though, of playing many games without first having to decide if they're worth paying for.

I exclude from these year-end lists games that I only play at video game industry events. I exclude all those game that I only touch at E3 or at, say, a PlayStation showcase in New York. I do include, however, unfinished games that I play at home as part of my judging duties for the Independent Games Festival. I include downloadable games that can be played on their own but omit downloadable expansions that require the base game. I list games I either started or finished in the calendar year. I don't count demos.

The list reflects my personal taste and my professional curiosity. This year, I wanted to understand Facebook gaming better. This year, I still wasn't very interested in playing sports games or fighting games.

I do not include playing times for the games in the list. Some of them I've only played for an hour; others I've played for dozens. I bold the ones in which I've reached narrative completion or some sort of credit-rolling finale. As I've been compiling these lists year after year, it's become harder and harder to say I've finished games, not just because I've devoted less time to gaming (I'm not sure that I have) but because it seems that fewer games are being made that can be "finished."

On with the list!

My 2011 Games Played/Finished List

(Games I started listed below. Finished games are bolded)

3DS

(25 games played; 0 finished)

3D Classics: Excitebike

Aliens Infestation

AR Games

Face Raiders

Freakyforms

Frogger 3D

Kirby Mass Attack

The Legend of Zelds: Ocarina of Time 3D

Madden NF Football

Mario Kart 7

Mario's Picross (Game Boy)

Pilotwings Resort

Pokemon Rumble Blast

Pushmo

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D

Ridge Racer 3D

The Sims 3

Samurai Warriors: Chronicles

Skylanders

Steel Diver

Super Mario 3D Land (Note: I finished the main quest but I don't consider that game completion for this title; those who have played will understand why.)

Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition

Tetris Axis

Thor: God of Thunder

Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition

DS

(3 games played; 1 finished)

Ghost Trick

Okamiden

Professor Layton and the Last Specter

Facebook

(6 games played; 0 finished)

Adventure World

Dragon Age Legends

Empires & Allies

Lucky Space

Mafia Wars 2

PixelJunk Monsters Online

iOS

(34 games played; 1 finished)

1-Bit Ninja

Air Pengun

Amazing Breaker

Anomaly HD

Aquaria

Async Corp

Batman: Arkham City Lockdown

Bubble Ball

Collision Effect

Connectrode

Continuity 2

Dead Space

Dream Skate

Dungeon Raid

Entanglement

Forget.Me.Not

Freddie Wong's Flower Warfare

Grimm

Infinity Blade II

Jetpack Joyride

Knight Defense

Lilith's Pet (unreleased)

Scribblenauts Remix

SpaceChem

SpellTower

Stem Stumper

Super Crossfire HD

Super Quickhook

Superman

Sword & Sworcery

Terrorist Zombies

Unpleasant Horse

Wind-Up Knight

Zombie Minesweeper

PC

(16 games played; 0 finished)

Note: Most of the games I played on PC, as in years past, were incomplete games I tried as a judge for the Independent Games Festival. Some of these games are assigned by the IGF; others I sought out on my own

A Closed World (unreleased)

Antichamber (unreleased)

Dear Esther (unreleased)

Emoticon vs. Rainbow (unreleased)

Forgotten Kodama (unreleased)

Ibb and Obb (unreleased)

Instance 1000

Kali 9 (unreleased)

The Last Word (unreleased)

Link (unreleased)

Molecat Twist (unreleased)

Moto (Unreleased)

Rope (unreleased)

So Many Me (unreleased)

Space Loop (unreleased)

Unmechanical (unreleased)

PSP

(0 games played; 0 finished)

None

PS3

(22 games played; 8 finished)

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Battlefield 3

Dark Souls

Dead Space 2

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Driver: San Francisco

Infamous 2

Infamous: Festival of Blood

Killzone 3

L.A. Noire

Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7

LittleBigPlanet 2

Motorstorm Apocalypse

PixelJunk Shooter 2

PixelJunk: Sidescroller

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One

Rocketbirds: Harboiled Chicken

Rayman Origins

Saints Row: The Third

Shadows of the Damned

Skylanders

Uncharted 3

Wii

(5 games played; 3 finished)

Fortune Street

Kirby's Dreamland 3 (Virtual Console)

Kirby's Return to Dreamland

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Lost in Shadow

Xbox 360

(50 games played; 15 finished)

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

Alice Madness Returns

Asteroids do Concern Me

A World of Keflings

Bastion

Brink

Bulletstorm

Burnout Crash

Captain America: Super Soldier

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Note: This is the only 2010 game I finished in 2011.)

Child of Eden

Crysis 2

de Blob 2

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero

Duke Nukem Forever

El Shaddai

Fight Night Champion (Note: I finished the story mode.)

Flotilla

Forza 4

From Dust

Gears of War 3

Homefront

Honor in Vengeance II

Hunted: Demon's Forge

Hypership: Out of Control

Ilomilo

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

Kinect: Disneyland Adventures

Lego Pirates of the Caribbean

Lego Star Wars III

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom

Miner Dig Deep

Missile Escape

Modern Warfare 3 (Note: I didn't prestige. I finished the campaign.)

Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess

Mortal Kombat

NBA 2K11

Outland

Platformance: Temple Death

Portal 2 (Note: This is the closest I got to 100%-ing a game in 2011, finishing its solo and multiplayer campaigns.)

Rage

Red Faction: Armageddon

Renegade Ops

Rock of Ages

Section 8: Prejudice

Spider-Man: Edge of Time

Splatterhouse

Skyrim

Toy Soldiers: Cold War

Trenched (aka Iron Brigade)

The final 2011 tally is: 161 games played; 28 finished (NOTE: I originally counted 27 games finished, because I accidentally didn't include Sword & Sworcery among my conquered games.)